Lenten Devotion

The sign of the cross may be made by all in remembrance of their Baptism.

In the name of the Father and of the † Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom
and the power and the glory
forever and ever. Amen. Matthew 6:9-13

Old Testament: Genesis 27:1-45

¹ When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.”
² He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death.
³ Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me,
⁴ and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”
⁵ Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it,
⁶ Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau,
⁷ ‘Bring me game and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you before the LORD before I die.’
⁸ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you.
⁹ Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father, such as he loves.
¹⁰ And you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”
¹¹ But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.
¹² Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.”
¹³ His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.”
¹⁴ So he went and took them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared delicious food, such as his father loved.
¹⁵ Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.
¹⁶ And the skins of the young goats she put on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
¹⁷ And she put the delicious food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
¹⁸ So he went in to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”
¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.”
²⁰ But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the LORD your God granted me success.”
²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.”
²² So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
²³ And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands. So he blessed him.
²⁴ He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.”
²⁵ Then he said, “Bring it near to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.
²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.”
²⁷ So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed!
²⁸ May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine.
²⁹ Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”
³⁰ As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting.
³¹ He also prepared delicious food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.”
³² His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”
³³ Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.”
³⁴ As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!”
³⁵ But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.”
³⁶ Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”
³⁷ Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?”
³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.
³⁹ Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high.
⁴⁰ By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck.”
⁴¹ Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
⁴² But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you.
⁴³ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban my brother in Haran
⁴⁴ and stay with him a while, until your brother’s fury turns away—
⁴⁵ until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereft of you both in one day?” (ESV)

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New Testament: Mark 8:22-9:1

²² And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him.
²³ And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?”
²⁴ And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.”
²⁵ Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
²⁶ And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”
²⁷ And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”
²⁸ And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”
²⁹ And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”
³⁰ And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.
³¹ And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.
³² And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
³³ But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
³⁴ And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
³⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.
³⁶ For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
³⁷ For what can a man give in return for his soul?
³⁸ For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
¹ And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” (ESV)

In the account of Jacob and Esau, we see the messiness of human sin and the struggle for the blessing. To follow Christ is to take up the cross and lose one's life for His sake. We are blind to the true nature of God's kingdom until Christ touches us a second time, opening our eyes to see the suffering Son of Man.

Prayer of the Day

Almighty and everlasting God, who governs all things in heaven and earth: mercifully look upon our infirmities, and in all our dangers and necessities stretch forth the right hand of Your Majesty to help and defend us; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Closing Prayer

O God, who desires not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his way and live, graciously accept the repentance of Your people, and grant them Your forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.